Background
Job offer points are now once again a determinative factor in success in Express Entry. Below is a summary of how job offer points have affected Express Entry applications starting from the inception of the Express Entry program in 2015.
Date | Rule | What it meant in practice |
January 2015 | Express Entry launches; an LMIA-backed job offer earns 600 points | A job offer virtually guaranteed an invitation. Employers had to obtain an LMIA, which was slow and costly. |
November 2016 | Job offer points cut to 50 (200 for senior managers); certain LMIA-exempt work permit holders can qualify | Job offers became tie-breakers. Canadian experience and language scores were key factors in the calculation of applicant’s CRS scores. |
March 2025 | Job offer points eliminated entirely | In response to fraud, including the sale of LMIAs to candidates seeking additional points, employers lost the ability to influence an employee's ranking in the Express Entry pool. |
Ongoing 2026 | IRCC consults on wider Express Entry reform; final report published October 152 | Proposals included a high-wage factor, changes to age, spousal and education points, and a single federal skilled program. |
October 16, 2026 | High-wage changes announced, effective November 3 | Job offer points return, limited to high-wage occupations, with no LMIA required. |
Key Highlights
What changes on November 3
Candidates earn points through one of two routes, whichever scores higher. (The two routes cannot be combined.)
What counts as "high wage"
An occupation is high wage if the Canada-wide median wage for that NOC code is at least 1.3 times the median wage of the overall workforce. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has published 186 eligible NOC codes, sorted into three tiers. The employee's own salary is irrelevant. A junior software engineer and a principal engineer in the same NOC earn the same points.
Typical examples by tier:
- 2.0x tier: financial managers, HR managers, engineering managers, IT managers, lawyers, physicians, university professors.
- 1.5x tier: software engineers and developers, data scientists, cybersecurity specialists, civil, mechanical and electrical engineers, management consultants, pharmacists, registered nurses.
- 1.3x tier: accountants and auditors, financial analysts, HR professionals, architects, web developers, engineering technologists, medical technologists.
Senior management occupations: Senior management positions may fall within different wage tiers, depending on the applicable NOC code and area of responsibility. Depending on the specific NOC code and area of responsibility (e.g., construction, broadcasting, other business services, etc.), senior managers may qualify under different wage tiers. Eligibility and the applicable tier are determined by the occupation's NOC classification rather than the employee's job title or actual salary.3
Route 1: Canadian work experience
Candidates keep the existing points for the length of their Canadian experience (up to 80 points for five years). Those with at least 12 months in a high-wage occupation receive additional bonus points:
High-wage tier | Bonus points (12+ months in Canada) |
2.0x the median | 70 |
1.5x the median | 40 |
1.3x the median | 20 |
Experience must be in an approved high-wage occupation, gained in Canada within the past 10 years. The combined maximum for this factor is 150 points (140 with an accompanying spouse or partner).
Route 2: A qualifying job offer
The offer must generally be for full-time, continuous employment lasting at least one year after the candidate becomes a permanent resident. Job offers in occupations outside the high-wage list still earn no points.
High-wage tier | Job offer points |
2.0x the median | 100 |
1.5x the median | 70 |
1.3x the median | 50 |
Based on the points calculation, candidates would generally earn higher points under Route 1 as opposed to Route 2 once they have gained at least one year of Canadian work experience.
No LMIA required
Starting November 3, an LMIA is no longer needed for a job offer to earn points. A temporary public policy also removes LMIA requirements for job offers used to qualify under the Federal Skilled Worker and Federal Skilled Trades programs, for candidates invited on or after that date.
Instead, an officer will assess whether the offer is genuine, including whether the employer:
- is actively operating the business making the offer;
- has a reasonable need for the role and can meet the offer's terms;
- has complied with federal and provincial employment and recruitment laws.
The officer will also assess whether the candidate can perform the work and is likely to accept and carry out the role.
Transition
- Existing profiles are rescored automatically for Canadian experience.
- Job offer details must be entered manually before November 3 to be counted.
- Invitation rounds pause for up to two weeks from November 3 while IRCC recalculates scores.
What this means for your workforce
- Biggest winners: recent transferees and foreign-based hires in senior, technical and professional roles. For them, a job offer letter can be worth 50, 70, or 100 additional points.
- Steady gainers: employees already working in Canada in high-wage roles will receive the experience bonus automatically.
- No change: employees in occupations not on the list, including many skilled trades and service roles. Their scores do not change, but cut-offs are expected to rise as high-wage candidates move up. Some may now be better served by a provincial nominee program or a category-based draw.
